(NOTE: All of these will be separated and written up over the rest of the week. In the meanwhile, for the sake of sharing quickly, here are all 44 video clips taken during the Monday afternoon/ evening second session in order of debate.)

1. LD 1829, “An Act To Require the Department of Health and Human Services To Report Annually on Investigations and Prosecutions of False Claims Made under the MaineCare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and Food Supplement Programs”.ROLL CALL:21 Yeas – 14 Nays

Johnson says, “Governor should sign expansion for the tens of thousands of Mainers whose lives will be improved, will be healthier, and perhaps even be saved.”

Good morning, this is State Senator Chris Johnson of Somerville. For the better part of a year there’s been considerable debate about whether or not Maine should join twenty-six other states in expanding health care to nearly 70,000 people in Maine.

Throughout this year-long debate, support for expansion has been strong. As a matter of fact, as of last week, a poll revealed that 61% of Mainers support the state expanding MaineCare health insurance to more Mainers, so that they too, can have access to life-saving health care.

Earlier this week, the Maine Senate voted in favor of advancing a Republican-sponsored measure to expand MaineCare but unfortunately, it did so without a veto-proof majority.

The 70,000 Mainers who would benefit from MaineCare expansion are our friends, neighbors, and family members. In my district, Lincoln County, I’ve heard from landscapers, carpenters, farmers, welders, and lobstermen–all of whom urged my support for expanding health care.

They are the people in our nursing homes taking care of our elderly; they are the people we see every week bagging our groceries; and, they are our veterans who have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan. They are working–and working hard–but simply aren’t earning more than $12 to 15 thousand dollars a year. They are the most financially destitute Mainers.

One person in her early sixties told me that expansion for her would mean that they would have preventative care for the first time in their adult life. She went on to say that her doctor has recommended tests and two procedures, but she has had to decline. She added: This worries me because we all know a lack of preventive care shortens people’s lifespans.

Expanding healthcare is a quality of life issue to ensure people have preventive care to stay healthy; instead of hoping they don’t get desperately ill.

We all agree that now is the time to start bending the curve downward on health care costs, and preventive care is an important step toward that goal. Even Maine’s hospitals agree. The Maine Hospital Association, the Maine Medical Association, and the Maine Primary Care Association have all endorsed expanding MaineCare health insurance. With this in mind, it makes expansion a win on quality of life and a win in the battle to curb overall healthcare costs.

It is also a win economically. Expanding healthcare would inject $250 million in federal dollars per year into Maine. And, by the way, that’s money that if Maine doesn’t use, some other state will. To date, because Maine hasn’t already expanded MaineCare like 26 other states, we have lost out on $74 million dollars in just 2014 alone. Said another way, for each day we have not expanded MaineCare, we lose one-million-per day.

Expanding healthcare would also create 4,500 jobs right here in Maine. As Senator Roger Katz said during the floor debate on the issue, if this were any other issue, we’d be cracking open the champagne bottle to celebrate such an economic win. He then added that even using the “e” word, expansion, is akin to fighting words lately.

In spite of the bipartisan compromise, expanding healthcare has become a partisan and at times, vitriolic issue for the GOP. But in my opinion, political games should never come before standing up for Maine people and doing right by them. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in all of the other New England states found a way to move beyond the rhetoric and worked together to move forward on doing what’s right for the people in their states.

I still hold out hope for our state…that next week when the Maine House takes up the issue that they too will pass the measure–and that when this compromise measure reaches Governor LePage’s desk, he will sign it. He will sign it, not for me, or any other lawmaker in the State House but he should sign it for 61% of Mainers who support expanding MaineCare health insurance. Most importantly, he should sign it for the tens of thousands of Mainers whose lives will be improved, will be healthier, and perhaps even be saved.

Thank you for listening. This is State Senator Chris Johnson of Somerville. Have a healthy and fantastic weekend.

A lengthy floor debate transpired with many senators on both sides standing to present their views. Judiciary Committee Chair Sen. Linda Valentino (D-Cumberland) spoke first in strong opposition to the bill:

“I see this bill as a step backwards. I see this bill as being filled with unintended consequences. I see this bill as being used as an end run around the Maine Human Rights Act. … It is trying to erode the existing women’s rights and gay rights that we have fought so hard to attain. I support and believe strongly in the First Amendment which provides for religious freedom, but I cannot support this bill because it is a step backwards. This bill would allow extremists to hide behind the words ‘religious freedom’ as a way to circumvent our anti-discrimination laws.”

Earlier, Valentino had issued the following statement as the committee voted 8-4 ONTP on the bill before sending it to the Senate:

“I support and believe strongly in the First Amendment which provides for religious freedom. This bill would do nothing more than foster and legalize discrimination. We’ve come too far to take such a drastic step backward. One danger of this measure is the unintended consequences. Because your religion ‘says so’ does not mean you have carte blanche to break the law.”

“This law basically says that the government should be held to a very high level of proof before it enacts a law. This is about government. this isn’t about private citizens against private citizens. It does not allow religious people to get away with anything they want to. It does not guarantee claimants a victory in government actions. It simply requires that the government has a strong justification.”

Senator Chris Johnson (D-Lincoln) agreed with Valentino.

“I believe wholeheartedly in religious freedom as established in our U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of Maine. What I do not support is the overreach in this bill. My parents taught me long ago that my right to swing my arms ends when it meets up against another person’s right to not be assaulted. We all have to live this balance, free to personally hold and practice beliefs, but not free to impose our beliefs on others at the expense of their rights. Our laws exist to codify and implement balances between the many constitutionally expressed rights, as well as the interactions between people holding those rights.”

Ultimately the bill was voted “ONTP” (ought not to pass), 19-16. It now will go before the House for more votes.

A June 9-10 spiritual run by Passamaquoddy Tribe members and others to recognize the importance of the indigenous sea-run alewife to the St. Croix River watershed. This two-day, 100-mile relay will highlight the Maine Legislature’s 17-year blockage of this fish run and connect with a 4000-year-old tribal fishing site at the top of Spednic Lake. The sacred run is organized by the Schoodic Riverkeepers, a group comprised of Passamaquoddy tribal members focused on restoring their ancestral river, and indigenous populations of fish in the St. Croix River.

In 1995, a great error was made by the 117th Legislature which nearly resulted in elimination of Maine’s alewives, as passage up their native St. Croix River was blocked with strategically places flashboards on the dams’ fishways. Grand Lake Stream area guides claimed that alewives were decimating the small mouth bass fry population they depended on for their 12-week season.

Although efforts were launched in 2001 to repeal the earlier law, blockage was maintained that year with a stronger 2008 lobbying campaign that opened only 1% of spawning St Croix habitat to alewives and blue backed herring.

This year, the 126th Legislature swiftly acted to right what former SAM executive director and veteran writer George Smith labelled “a mistake”. The bill had a contentious hearing on March 25, lasting over three hours, followed by a rapid work session April 1 resulting in the Joint Standing Committee on Marine Resources unanimously approving LD 72, opening two dams on the lower St. Croix. Co-Chair Senator Chris Johnson (D-Lincoln) characterized the work session for the bill thus:“That was the fastest report we’ve dealt with in almost two years.”

As the bill sponsored by freshman Rep. Madonna Soctomah (Passamaquoddy) was an emergency measure, it then required 2/3rds vote in both chambers of the Legislature. It easily passed in the House by a 124-23 margin on Wednesday morning, then flew through the Senate, 33-0, on the same day.

Via Maine House Democrats’ press release:

The Maine House gave final approval Wednesday to a historic measure to reopen the St. Croix River to alewives, a species of river herring that is critical to the ecosystem because of its role as a food source for other fish and that is also important as bait for the fishing industry. The proposal would end the state’s 18-year blockade of the sea-run fish at Grand Falls Dam in time for this year’s upriver migration of alewives, allowing them to return to their native spawning habitat. The bill sets a May 1 deadline to open the fishways.

Passamaquoddy Tribal Rep. Madonna Soctomah, the bill’s sponsor, spoke of the important role alewives play in Maine and how they do not pose a threat to smallmouth bass, as opponents of the measure claim.

“The restoration of the abundant alewife runs in the St. Croix River watershed should remain a high priority for the people of the state of Maine,” Soctomah said in the House chamber. “The alewives are a native and indigenous species, with their migration history dating back 400 years. The smallmouth bass lives harmoniously with alewives in hundreds of lakes and rivers in Maine.”

The once-abundant alewife population has fallen sharply since the closure of the fish passages in 1995. Alewives, whose numbers are now estimated at less than 1,000, are a key food source for a number of fish species such as bluefish, cod, haddock, salmon, striped bass and tuna. Alewives also have an important role as bait fish.
“We’re pleased to have reached this bipartisan vote to restore this vital native fishery,” said House Majority Leader Seth Berry of Bowdoinham. “Alewives are important to the ecosystem, to the lobster industry and could also benefit the groundfishing industry.”

…in 1995 the Maine Legislature voted to close the Woodland and Grand Falls fishways, and the alewife population plunged to 900 fish in 2002, from 2.6 million in 1987. The law was amended in 2008 to open the fishway at Woodland, but alewives still cannot reach 98 percent of their traditional spawning ground.

Many studies have shown that alewives and bass coexist, and bass even eat alewives. If anything, a 10-year study found, a lake drawdown made the bass’ protective rock habitat disappear and forced the bass to compete for food and habitat with other fish. The Legislature’s vote on Wednesday is a recognition of the science.

The original closure of the St. Croix was based on “myth and misinformed rhetoric,” John Burrows, director of the New Brunswick Programs for the Atlantic Salmon Federation, told the Legislature’s Marine Resources Committee March 25. “The fact that 98 percent of the river has remained closed when there is substantial scientific support for restoring alewives is simply astounding. To our members, this is the greatest ecological injustice to occur in the state of Maine in generations, and there is no reason to keep the river closed.”

Video link of the unanimous passage by all 33 present Senators (Hill and Flood absent). Senator Johnson spoke to his colleagues, urging their full support, just prior to the vote.

“The restoration of alewives to the St, Croix River will benefit people all over Maine. Alewives are critical to Maine’s environment and fill an important role as baitfish for the lobster industry,” said Senator Chris Johnson (D-Somerville), the Senate Chair of the Marine Resources Committee. “They also serve as critical prey food for our depleted ground fish stocks. Getting this bill passed now means that the benefits can begin with this year’s run, and they will grow over time. The additional alewives will make a real difference to our struggling ground fish and lobster industries.”

A competing measure that reflects the Department of Marine Resources’ position, LD 548, sponsored by Rep. Windol Weaver, R-York, would align alewife restoration strategies with an adaptive management plan approved in 2010. That plan aims to address concerns raised by fishing guides about whether the introduction of alewives would decimate the bass population.

While the majority of the 2012 election results were known quickly, almost a dozen legislative races were close enough to generate manual recounts. These recounts were a result of either being automatically generated due to the closeness of the initial tallies or per request of a candidate.

The manual examinations included recounting all ballots separately for each municipality within the district, searching for any potentially overlooked ballots accidentally tucked into stacks of absentee envelopes, ensuring that the overseas ballots from other areas of the state were either not accidentally included or that overseas ballots were not accidentally omitted and investigation of all rejected ballots.

The entire proceedings, open to the public, included teams made of an official from the Secretary of State’s office working with both a registered Democratic and Republican volunteer. There were attorneys for both parties available throughout the recounts as well as other support staff tabulating the final tallies before the final certification, which included signatures from the candidates in addition to the political party’s attorneys and officials from the Secretary of State’s office.

(Sidenote: After his loss, former Rep. Les Fossel told Kennebec Journal reporter Sue Cover that he blamed his loss on ‘dirty politics’ and made this statement: “I’m going to figure out a way to punish people who do dirty campaigning.”